Our sad farewell to Hendersonville

Published: Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, November 4, 2013 at 2:46 p.m.

My wife and I have decided to pull up roots for the 14th time in our 50-plus years of marriage and create our next life adventure.

She has slowly lost her depth perception and can no longer drive. The combination of her not driving and my concerns about her falling on the stairs of our three-story home caused us to agree we needed to sell our home and settle into something much smaller with one level of living space. We decided to first sell and then decide where to move, figuring we could always rent something while we decided on more permanent arrangements.

In October, we received and accepted an offer on our home. It was a span of only 17 days from the day we accepted the offer until the day we moved out on Nov. 5.

We had been thinking about all of our wants in addition to a one-level place to live. As much as I have enjoyed the four-season living in this beautiful area, I hate cold weather! I love Southern California weather, but that state is in such a mess that I could not even consider it.

We ended up deciding to try Scottsdale, Ariz. We will rent a furnished place out there for a few months to make sure it will work for us — all part of the adventure. However, we are keeping our stuff stored in Asheville just in case.

I will miss many things about this area.

I will certainly miss writing my column. I began my role as a columnist purely by accident. I wrote my first-ever letter to any newspaper to the Times-News in early 2010. The subject was illegal immigration. I received a call back from the managing editor at that time, Burke Noel, who told me my letter was far too long to be published as such. He asked me if I could shorten it. I told him no because a shorter letter could not fully convey my message.

A week later, he called again and asked if I would consider publishing my letter as a guest column. With great trepidation and the encouragement of my wife, I agreed to do so. A week or so after it was published, Burke called again and asked if I would consider writing a column every Sunday. I responded, absolutely not! After all, I was retired and did not want to go back to work and end up with a boss and deadlines, and how would I ever come up with a weekly topic?

He persisted, and we finally agreed that I could submit whatever and whenever I wanted, and he would publish if he wanted. That was 130 or so columns ago. Not only have I managed to keep my one remaining brain cell semi-functioning, but I have truly enjoyed the bonus of the email exchanges with readers who have responded to my closing sentence in every column: “What do you think?”

I have already submitted columns that will be published in my allotted Sunday spot through the end of the year. Because I have remained as an unpaid guest columnist, and the Times-News requires this category of writers to be local residents, I am ending my column on Dec. 29.

I want to thank and recognize a few people who have made our time in Hendersonville so special. I want to thank Mr. Noel for giving me the opportunity to be a columnist. I also want to thank the current managing editor, Diane Norman, who has always been wonderfully professional and supportive, and Chris Horeth, who manages the editorial page layouts, editing and even selects the cartoons to be run on the editorial pages for the Hendersonville and Spartanburg, S.C., papers. He has been consistently terrific!

I want to thank Lt. Angie Bell of the Asheville Fire Department, who has worked diligently over the past couple of years to improve my writing skills. Angie wrote to me one day and told me she liked the way I thought but that my writing skills needed help. I responded by challenging her to teach me what I needed to improve. Like my beloved wife, Angie has been as persistent as possible in her quest to help me improve. Angie, I have a long way to go, but I am trying. Thanks for being so kind and giving.

A special thanks to my good pal LeRoy Goldman, who writes a column as “The Shadow.” Lee has made me a better thinker, and I have told him if I could re-title my column it would deservedly be called, “The Shadow of the Shadow.”

Last, I want to recognize two of the best health care providing teams we have ever encountered in our life journey. Our primary care provider, Dr. Eric Byrd and his staff, are simply wonderful in every way. Similarly, if you are looking for a skilled and compassionate dental office, Dr. Pete Richards and his staff will be hard to beat.

I sincerely wish I had sufficient space to thank a much longer list of folks who also deserve to be recognized. However, my space is, mercifully for the readers, limited to 900 words.

To the readers, please take the time to let the columnists hear from you whether you agree with them or not. It’s lonely writing these columns.

<p>My wife and I have decided to pull up roots for the 14th time in our 50-plus years of marriage and create our next life adventure.</p><p>She has slowly lost her depth perception and can no longer drive. The combination of her not driving and my concerns about her falling on the stairs of our three-story home caused us to agree we needed to sell our home and settle into something much smaller with one level of living space. We decided to first sell and then decide where to move, figuring we could always rent something while we decided on more permanent arrangements.</p><p>In October, we received and accepted an offer on our home. It was a span of only 17 days from the day we accepted the offer until the day we moved out on Nov. 5.</p><p>We had been thinking about all of our wants in addition to a one-level place to live. As much as I have enjoyed the four-season living in this beautiful area, I hate cold weather! I love Southern California weather, but that state is in such a mess that I could not even consider it.</p><p>We ended up deciding to try Scottsdale, Ariz. We will rent a furnished place out there for a few months to make sure it will work for us — all part of the adventure. However, we are keeping our stuff stored in Asheville just in case.</p><p>I will miss many things about this area.</p><p>I will certainly miss writing my column. I began my role as a columnist purely by accident. I wrote my first-ever letter to any newspaper to the Times-News in early 2010. The subject was illegal immigration. I received a call back from the managing editor at that time, Burke Noel, who told me my letter was far too long to be published as such. He asked me if I could shorten it. I told him no because a shorter letter could not fully convey my message.</p><p>A week later, he called again and asked if I would consider publishing my letter as a guest column. With great trepidation and the encouragement of my wife, I agreed to do so. A week or so after it was published, Burke called again and asked if I would consider writing a column every Sunday. I responded, absolutely not! After all, I was retired and did not want to go back to work and end up with a boss and deadlines, and how would I ever come up with a weekly topic?</p><p>He persisted, and we finally agreed that I could submit whatever and whenever I wanted, and he would publish if he wanted. That was 130 or so columns ago. Not only have I managed to keep my one remaining brain cell semi-functioning, but I have truly enjoyed the bonus of the email exchanges with readers who have responded to my closing sentence in every column: “What do you think?”</p><p>I have already submitted columns that will be published in my allotted Sunday spot through the end of the year. Because I have remained as an unpaid guest columnist, and the Times-News requires this category of writers to be local residents, I am ending my column on Dec. 29.</p><p>I want to thank and recognize a few people who have made our time in Hendersonville so special. I want to thank Mr. Noel for giving me the opportunity to be a columnist. I also want to thank the current managing editor, Diane Norman, who has always been wonderfully professional and supportive, and Chris Horeth, who manages the editorial page layouts, editing and even selects the cartoons to be run on the editorial pages for the Hendersonville and Spartanburg, S.C., papers. He has been consistently terrific!</p><p>I want to thank Lt. Angie Bell of the Asheville Fire Department, who has worked diligently over the past couple of years to improve my writing skills. Angie wrote to me one day and told me she liked the way I thought but that my writing skills needed help. I responded by challenging her to teach me what I needed to improve. Like my beloved wife, Angie has been as persistent as possible in her quest to help me improve. Angie, I have a long way to go, but I am trying. Thanks for being so kind and giving.</p><p>A special thanks to my good pal LeRoy Goldman, who writes a column as “The Shadow.” Lee has made me a better thinker, and I have told him if I could re-title my column it would deservedly be called, “The Shadow of the Shadow.”</p><p>Last, I want to recognize two of the best health care providing teams we have ever encountered in our life journey. Our primary care provider, Dr. Eric Byrd and his staff, are simply wonderful in every way. Similarly, if you are looking for a skilled and compassionate dental office, Dr. Pete Richards and his staff will be hard to beat.</p><p>I sincerely wish I had sufficient space to thank a much longer list of folks who also deserve to be recognized. However, my space is, mercifully for the readers, limited to 900 words.</p><p>To the readers, please take the time to let the columnists hear from you whether you agree with them or not. It's lonely writing these columns.</p><p>Goodbye, best wishes, and thanks for the memories.</p>